Arcot Thoppayya Mudaliar was a successful businessman who lived about 150 years ago. He used to travel on a palanquin for the purpose of conducting commerce in the company of a retinue between Arcot, Bengaluru, Salem and Coimbatore. His enterprising traits coupled with business acumen yielded him rich dividends and he amassed a huge fortune in the nineteenth century.
Arcot Thoppayya Mudaliar was a successful businessman who lived about 150 years ago. He used to travel on a palanquin for the purpose of conducting commerce in the company of a retinue between Arcot, Bengaluru, Salem and Coimbatore. His enterprising traits coupled with business acumen yielded him rich dividends and he amassed a huge fortune in the nineteenth century. He constructed a Vinayakar Temple, Ramar Kovil Chathiram, Mandapam etc., in Bengaluru and established endowments for maintaining the institutions.
He used to live in an auspicious house in Bengaluru and it was kept well by his people. Thoppayya Mudaliar had good properties and investments in Mysore, Bengaluru and Nilgiris. He had endowed a choultry for travellers at Podanur on the outskirts of Coimbatore. The charitable Thoppayya Mudaliar built a number of choultries in places like Chennai, Salem, Mysore and other places that were frequented by him for the purpose of business. The noble man added good merit to himself by doing other charitable acts in the places associated with his enterprises.
A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar (1892 - 1958), the grandson of Arcot Thoppayya Mudaliar founded Sundarapuram on the outskirts of Coimbatore. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar or ATD has a street named after him in Race Course and he used to live at his palatial bungalow 'Ratnalaya' along with his wife Sundaribai and only daughter Premakumari. ATD happenns to be the third son of Rao Bahadur A.T.Thiruvenkatswamy Mudaliar (1855 - 1923) and Ratnammal. His father A.T. Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar (ATT) was an eminent citizen of the city and was its Municipal Chairman for about 10 years.
A.T.Laksmanaswamy Mudaliar (Founder Vice President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore) and Rao Bahadur A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar (Former Chairman of Coimbatore Municipality) were the two elder brothers of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar.
ATD married Sundaribai, the daughter of the fifth Jagirdar of Sivasamudram - Janopakarakartha Anandaraya Mudaliar. Long ago, the ancestors of Sundaribai used to own most of Triplicane in Chennai. Once upon a time, the famous contractor Ramaswamy Mudaliar constructed the difficult Sivasamudram bridge and as a recogition for this noteworthy act, the British Government conferred him the title Janopakarakartha with the concurrence of the Maharaja of Mysore. The Sivasamudram Jagir was also granted on a hereditary basis to the achiever, Ramaswamy Mudaliar. The Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar had granted two villages to the Jagirdar in order to facilitate the maintenance of the Sri Ranganatha Temple located on the island. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar, the son in law of this noble Jagirdar family and the son of the first citizen of Coimbatore - A.T.Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar, decided to build a hospital in the name of his noble wife.
Therefore he purchased a huge tract of land on Pollachi Road in the year 1934. A well was dug first and a couple of houses were constructed on the plot thereafter. Subsequently, Devaraja Mudaliar established the Lotus Mills as a business venture and became its Managing Director. It was on 18/9/1934 that A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar created 'Sundarapuram' in the name of his beloved wife Sundaribai. The foundation ceremony for Lotus Mills was held on the very same day.
The Government supported the initiative of ATD by establishing a Post Office in the newly created Sundarapuram. Houses for the mill labourers, shops for their families and Adhi Lakshmi School for children came up in quick succession due to the efforts and charitable nature of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar. He had later on donated money for putting up the TB Clinic at the Government Hospital on Trichy Road in Coimbatore.
Sundarapuram became a full fledged village due to the charitable disposition of ATD and his wife Sundaribai. It was felt that a village was not complete without a temple and therefore ATD constructed the Sundara Ganesan Temple and dedicated it to the village on 05/09/1935 (Yuva Varsham, Aavani 20th, Sapthami thithi, Anusham Nakshatram). The icon of Lord Sundara Ganesan along with an icon of a Naga (serpent) deity and a lamp were miraculously discovered in one of the buildings belonging to ATD near the Goddess Koniamman Temple on Big Bazaar. The icon had been preserved in a well for sometime.
Coimbatore faced a drought those days and a Varuna Japam was performed at the Sundara Ganesan Temple in order to alleviate the misery of the populace and as a consequence of the same, suddenly huge quantities of water began bubbling from the well in front of the temple. The temple plans had been charted out by Murugaiyya Josyier (Astrologer) of Tirupur. The Josyier arranged for sculptors and the icons of Lord Venugopal and Lord Muruga were made by them.
The deities were installed adjacent to the existing icon of Sundara Ganesan and they were declared open on 06/11/1940 (Vikrama Varsham, Aippasi 21st, Wednesday 9:15 AM , Sapthami thithi, Thiruvonam Nakshatram). The combined shrines came to be known as 'Sundarapuram Thirumurthy Temple' and a bhajanai koodam was also established in the same place. Tirupur Ardhanari Chettiar and A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar were the trustees for this temple and M.Ganapathy Ayya Pillai was the Dharmakartha.
Tirupur Ardhanari Chettiar created an endowment of Rs.4,000 those days in order to feed the poor who came to Sundarapuram everyday. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar and Tirupur Perumal Chettiar were made trustees this noble endowment. The needy were to be fed with Kambamsoru between 10 AM and 3 PM everyday.
A Vellerukku plant came up on its own in the temple garden (Nandavanam) and in just a few days an anthill came up under the plant. A serpent began to reside on this spot and on the day of the consecration of the temple, three people working for Lotus Mills were blessed with sons. One cobra had encircled one of the children and provided shade with its hood on the third day of the birth of the said child.
The people around offered Sambrani and the cobra left the place immediately. The temple was made accessible to every believer irrespective of caste and on one of her birthdays (07/06/1942), Sundaribai Devaraja Mudaliar contributed a sum of Rs.101 as her initial contribution towards the construction of a Navagraha shrine in the Thirumurthy Temple. The Thirumurthy Temple became a religious destination for the people of this region and it continues to be popular.
The son in law of A.T. Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar, V.P.Kamalanatha Mudaliar (grandson of Jagannatha Mudaliar of Vellore) introduced one Sivagnanam Mudaliar to his brothers in law Rao Bahadur A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar (1890 - 1961) and A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar with the idea of bringing out a 'Pancharatna Paamalai' on the deities in the Thirumurthy Temple.
The Ambur Concardia Uyarkalaikazhaga Asiriyar Payirchisalai Thalamai Tamil Asiriyar - Sivagnanam Mudaliar offered the work containing the five stanza prayers (Pancharatna Paamalai) on each of the deities and the story of Sundarapuram at the temple on 18/06/1942 (Chitrabhanu Varsham, aani 4th, Thursday 5 PM) in the august presence of the well known Public Prosecutor T.T.Rathinasabapathy Pillai. Vidwan S.Arumuga Mudaliar of the Government Arts College on Race Course had offered a special introductory poem in Tamil for this historic publication.
Now Sundarapuram and its adjoining areas are full of business enterprises and a number of people are gainfully employed in this part of the city. The seed called 'Sundarapuram' was sown by the noble A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar and Coimbatore is continuing to reap the rich rewards of this enterprising initiative.
He used to live in an auspicious house in Bengaluru and it was kept well by his people. Thoppayya Mudaliar had good properties and investments in Mysore, Bengaluru and Nilgiris. He had endowed a choultry for travellers at Podanur on the outskirts of Coimbatore. The charitable Thoppayya Mudaliar built a number of choultries in places like Chennai, Salem, Mysore and other places that were frequented by him for the purpose of business. The noble man added good merit to himself by doing other charitable acts in the places associated with his enterprises.
A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar (1892 - 1958), the grandson of Arcot Thoppayya Mudaliar founded Sundarapuram on the outskirts of Coimbatore. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar or ATD has a street named after him in Race Course and he used to live at his palatial bungalow 'Ratnalaya' along with his wife Sundaribai and only daughter Premakumari. ATD happenns to be the third son of Rao Bahadur A.T.Thiruvenkatswamy Mudaliar (1855 - 1923) and Ratnammal. His father A.T. Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar (ATT) was an eminent citizen of the city and was its Municipal Chairman for about 10 years.
A.T.Laksmanaswamy Mudaliar (Founder Vice President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore) and Rao Bahadur A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar (Former Chairman of Coimbatore Municipality) were the two elder brothers of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar.
ATD married Sundaribai, the daughter of the fifth Jagirdar of Sivasamudram - Janopakarakartha Anandaraya Mudaliar. Long ago, the ancestors of Sundaribai used to own most of Triplicane in Chennai. Once upon a time, the famous contractor Ramaswamy Mudaliar constructed the difficult Sivasamudram bridge and as a recogition for this noteworthy act, the British Government conferred him the title Janopakarakartha with the concurrence of the Maharaja of Mysore. The Sivasamudram Jagir was also granted on a hereditary basis to the achiever, Ramaswamy Mudaliar. The Maharaja Chamarajendra Wodeyar had granted two villages to the Jagirdar in order to facilitate the maintenance of the Sri Ranganatha Temple located on the island. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar, the son in law of this noble Jagirdar family and the son of the first citizen of Coimbatore - A.T.Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar, decided to build a hospital in the name of his noble wife.
Therefore he purchased a huge tract of land on Pollachi Road in the year 1934. A well was dug first and a couple of houses were constructed on the plot thereafter. Subsequently, Devaraja Mudaliar established the Lotus Mills as a business venture and became its Managing Director. It was on 18/9/1934 that A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar created 'Sundarapuram' in the name of his beloved wife Sundaribai. The foundation ceremony for Lotus Mills was held on the very same day.
The Government supported the initiative of ATD by establishing a Post Office in the newly created Sundarapuram. Houses for the mill labourers, shops for their families and Adhi Lakshmi School for children came up in quick succession due to the efforts and charitable nature of A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar. He had later on donated money for putting up the TB Clinic at the Government Hospital on Trichy Road in Coimbatore.
Sundarapuram became a full fledged village due to the charitable disposition of ATD and his wife Sundaribai. It was felt that a village was not complete without a temple and therefore ATD constructed the Sundara Ganesan Temple and dedicated it to the village on 05/09/1935 (Yuva Varsham, Aavani 20th, Sapthami thithi, Anusham Nakshatram). The icon of Lord Sundara Ganesan along with an icon of a Naga (serpent) deity and a lamp were miraculously discovered in one of the buildings belonging to ATD near the Goddess Koniamman Temple on Big Bazaar. The icon had been preserved in a well for sometime.
Coimbatore faced a drought those days and a Varuna Japam was performed at the Sundara Ganesan Temple in order to alleviate the misery of the populace and as a consequence of the same, suddenly huge quantities of water began bubbling from the well in front of the temple. The temple plans had been charted out by Murugaiyya Josyier (Astrologer) of Tirupur. The Josyier arranged for sculptors and the icons of Lord Venugopal and Lord Muruga were made by them.
The deities were installed adjacent to the existing icon of Sundara Ganesan and they were declared open on 06/11/1940 (Vikrama Varsham, Aippasi 21st, Wednesday 9:15 AM , Sapthami thithi, Thiruvonam Nakshatram). The combined shrines came to be known as 'Sundarapuram Thirumurthy Temple' and a bhajanai koodam was also established in the same place. Tirupur Ardhanari Chettiar and A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar were the trustees for this temple and M.Ganapathy Ayya Pillai was the Dharmakartha.
Tirupur Ardhanari Chettiar created an endowment of Rs.4,000 those days in order to feed the poor who came to Sundarapuram everyday. A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar and Tirupur Perumal Chettiar were made trustees this noble endowment. The needy were to be fed with Kambamsoru between 10 AM and 3 PM everyday.
A Vellerukku plant came up on its own in the temple garden (Nandavanam) and in just a few days an anthill came up under the plant. A serpent began to reside on this spot and on the day of the consecration of the temple, three people working for Lotus Mills were blessed with sons. One cobra had encircled one of the children and provided shade with its hood on the third day of the birth of the said child.
The people around offered Sambrani and the cobra left the place immediately. The temple was made accessible to every believer irrespective of caste and on one of her birthdays (07/06/1942), Sundaribai Devaraja Mudaliar contributed a sum of Rs.101 as her initial contribution towards the construction of a Navagraha shrine in the Thirumurthy Temple. The Thirumurthy Temple became a religious destination for the people of this region and it continues to be popular.
The son in law of A.T. Thiruvenkataswamy Mudaliar, V.P.Kamalanatha Mudaliar (grandson of Jagannatha Mudaliar of Vellore) introduced one Sivagnanam Mudaliar to his brothers in law Rao Bahadur A.T.Krishnaswamy Mudaliar (1890 - 1961) and A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar with the idea of bringing out a 'Pancharatna Paamalai' on the deities in the Thirumurthy Temple.
The Ambur Concardia Uyarkalaikazhaga Asiriyar Payirchisalai Thalamai Tamil Asiriyar - Sivagnanam Mudaliar offered the work containing the five stanza prayers (Pancharatna Paamalai) on each of the deities and the story of Sundarapuram at the temple on 18/06/1942 (Chitrabhanu Varsham, aani 4th, Thursday 5 PM) in the august presence of the well known Public Prosecutor T.T.Rathinasabapathy Pillai. Vidwan S.Arumuga Mudaliar of the Government Arts College on Race Course had offered a special introductory poem in Tamil for this historic publication.
Now Sundarapuram and its adjoining areas are full of business enterprises and a number of people are gainfully employed in this part of the city. The seed called 'Sundarapuram' was sown by the noble A.T.Devaraja Mudaliar and Coimbatore is continuing to reap the rich rewards of this enterprising initiative.